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It was late now, about ten pm, and thankfully, Neil was fast asleep upstairs in his room. It had taken Dev two more days to finally be discharged from the hospital. The doctors had vehemently refused to let him go until they were certain he was fully recovered, and, to his annoyance, Avantika had made him promise he wouldn’t fight them and wouldn’t do anything rash like leaving before they’d permitted him to.
He stretched his left arm over his head. The left side of his chest was still sore and a bit stiff, although the painkillers had lessened the pain by several degrees. He looked around.
He was finally home now, and after conferring with Aaryan regarding the security detail that Aaryan had put around them all, he was ready to talk about the past. It was time.
He looked into the faces of everyone around him—each of them, knowingly or unknowingly, had been a pawn and a victim of the events of that black night and the time before it.
Dev placed two USBs in front of Aaryan and Vihaan each. “These are for you. Videos of the two of you growing up.”
“You saved these?” Aaryan asked. “For us?”
Dev lowered his chin in a nod.
Vihaan stared at the USB drives for a long moment. His eyes were haunted as he spoke. “I don’t want them. I don’t want you to soften me up before you tell your story. I don’t even want to hear you. I came here because I couldn’t say no to Aaryan, and the I only managed to even enter the house was because Avi told me that it holds no memory of your father. I didn’t even enter the house when I brought Avi to change her clothes that day you’d been shot.”
Aaryan winced.
“Vihaan…” Aaryan began, but his twin cut him off.
“I can’t do this, Aaryan,” Vihaan said. “I can’t pretend that his actions didn’t change the course of our lives. Please… Don’t force me.”
Vihaan spun around, walking away.
A helpless look crossed Aaryan’s face.
“Vihaan,” Dev called out, but he continued walking away. “I had to stand there and watch. I had to stay mute. I had no choice.”
Vihaan swirled. He stormed back and grabbed Dev’s collar, his fist up in the air.
“There is always a choice, but you didn’t choose us. You were our best friend,” Vihaan roared, “and you betrayed us.”
“I did choose,” Dev said. “I chose to save your lives. My father would have killed you if I hadn’t held my silence then. In saving you all, I ended up losing you all.”
From the corner of his eye, Dev found Sanjana watching him. What he said next would impact her too. He had tried for years to shield her from the harsh truth, but now he had to tell her.
“What was worse was that if I had sided with you all, then he would have hurt Sanjana,” Dev announced.
“What?” Sanjana shrieked.
Dev didn’t look at her; he kept looking at Vihaan, whose fist hadn’t budged. Aaryan came to them and lowered Vihaan’s arm.
The twins exchanged some nonverbal communication, and Vihaan backed away.
Avantika nodded, and Dev began to speak. “That year, it was our winter break. We’d all come home to Shimla for the holidays. My dad used to have these meetings with his men in his study all the time. Shamsher was always there. I used to think he was some sort of a bodyguard to my dad. I’d often wonder why dad needed protection; however, my dad wasn’t the type one could question, ever. Little did I know that Shamsher was his chief accomplice and not a bodyguard.” Dev made a face. “One night, I’d just finished hanging out with all of you and returned home late. Sanjana was on a school trip. I crossed the study and heard loud noises and arguments. I overheard him talking to his men about some illegal marijuana he’d been smuggling in the marble shipments. They were apparently stuck because Uncle Rushabh had found out. Your dad had seized all the marijuana shipments and the money that my dad was routing through their joint business. Your dad was already the bigger shareholder, and after seizing the shipment, he’d decided to cut off my dad’s access to all finances and was planning to cut him off the business completely. My dad was in a fix. He’d already accepted the money for the shipments, and now, there was no shipment to send. He had a huge debt and no means to pay it. He was enraged. He was talking of hurting your dad, of hurting you all, but first, he needed the money to clear his debt and then pay off the cops. I must have made a noise because the next thing I knew, I was surrounded by my dad’s men.”
He sighed. “Some days, I wished I hadn’t made a sound at all. I should have backed away and immediately rushed to Uncle Rushabh to warn him. But fate was against me. I thought my dad would deny what I had heard, but no. He, instead, wanted me to be a part of his plan. He wanted me to work with him since I was his heir, and everything was going to be mine one day. He began to outline his entire plan of killing your parents and you all, and then claiming all your assets. He kept saying how your dad had taken everything from him and how now, he’d take it back. That’s when I learned that my dad had, at one time, loved your mom in college.”
“Yes,” Aaryan agreed. “Tiya’s dad, Jatin Sood, told us that too. We hadn’t known until then. Jatin Sood was friends with your dad. Apparently, your dad had asked him for money before attacking our family.”
Dev nodded. “Uncle Jatin was friends with my dad and Uncle Raj. Years ago, he had taken money from my dad to move to Dubai and start a business there. Although he’d paid back the money he owed a long time back, my dad called him and asked him for the interest on that payment to be sent, and Uncle Jatin had sent it to him. I know Uncle Jatin was always wary of my father, especially after this. You see, he had suspected that my dad had a hand in destroying your family. He told me so recently before you all forced him to cut ties with me.”
“And do you blame us?” Vihaan growled. “You are our enemy. He had to choose between you and me. Of course, he’d choose me.”
“Jatin Sood is a good man who unknowingly and unwillingly aided my father by giving him the money that he used to eventually destroy your family. He’s lived with that guilt for years until Tiya fell for you. I believe he came clean and told you all everything. Anyway, despite being forced to cut ties with me, I know he still has a soft corner for me.”
“Yeah, you wish,” Vihaan grumbled.
Dev sighed.
